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Back in January Brian called me down to the office and let me know he had found a performance of St. Matthew Passion on Palm Sunday in Melbourne. He had enough points to get me there and back again without buying plane tickets. We knew it wouldn’t be realistic for the whole family to go, but maybe one of the kids? As much as Willa and Gemma enjoy our Lenten traditions, they are not up for listening to the entire oratorio in one sitting. Not excited about it, not ready for it, not a good idea. Ray, however, immediately latched onto the idea of a mother-daughter trip to see it. So we went together, just the two of us. Right before we left we realised Monday would be dicey. We needed to checkout of the hotel by 10am, but our flight wasn’t until 8pm. Fortunately, the zoo is pretty close and had lockers for luggage. Icing on our trip cake!

As we made our way to the performance, Ray looked at me cautiously and said, “Now, remind me. How long is it again?” Oh, boy. I laughed and said, “Girl, you’re locked in for three hours of it! Think you’re up for it?” And she was!! She almost fell asleep a couple of times (and, honestly, same), but she was alert for most of it. In fact, she was so alert she was counting off each instance of “O, Sacred Head Now Wounded” and critiquing the fact that the soloists didn’t come from the right choirs. Then the zoo on our way out? Goes without saying that it was a delight.

It’s so hard to get meaningful alone time with each daughter right now. Between Brian’s trips, homeschooling, and just life… well, sometimes that intimacy gets lost. I could’ve done this trip alone, but that would have been such a waste. I’ll hold the memories of late night flights, yummy hotel breakfasts, awkwardly silent Uber rides, whispering questions and answers to each other about the performance during the performance, and walking endlessly through the Melbourne Zoo ever so close to my heart. They’re all growing up so fast, and though I grieve the little years, I’m loving this newfound camaraderie in the older years.